Slow boot up

  • Thread starter Thread starter Francis M
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Francis M

Guest
Hello,



Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0 ghz

processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to boot

up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower. The

computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some security updates,

but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware with

nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make programs

laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally, when booting

up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is

running low and Windows is increasing its

size...........................don't remember the rest.



Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?



Thank You

Francis
 
Did a Norton or McAfee free trial come preinstalled on the computer when you

bought it?



Are you running AVG Free 9.0 and is Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

Surf-Shield, Security toolbar, and/or one or more of the email scanning

components installed?



Help! My computer is slow!

http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html

--

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002





Francis M wrote:

> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0

> ghz

> processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to boot

> up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower.

> The

> computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some security updates,

> but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware

> with

> nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make

> programs

> laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally, when booting

> up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is

> running low and Windows is increasing its

> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>

> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?
 
it's likely that the message

about low virtual memory is

indicative of the issue you

are having.



------------------------



what you can try is to set

the virtual memory to a

custom/fixed size and

forego the automatic mode.



if you choose to customize

the virtual memory then here

are the sizes (based on your

ram)



set the initial size to 2



and set the max size to 750



(750 is approximately 2.5 times

the size of your 512 ram)



then reboot and see if this helps.



if not, then you can leave it as is

or go back to automatic mode.

------------------



more info:



http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826513







virtual memory then



--



db·´¯`·...¸>

DatabaseBen, Retired Professional

- Systems Analyst

- Database Developer

- Accountancy

- Veteran of the Armed Forces

- Microsoft Partner

- @hotmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen



>

>




"Francis M" wrote in message news:#eld8TmrKHA.4948@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Hello,

>

> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0 ghz processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8

> to 10 minutes to boot up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower. The computer is not turned off that

> often. Havew done some security updates, but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware with nothing

> found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make programs laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally,

> when booting up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is running low and Windows is increasing its

> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>

> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?

>

> Thank You

> Francis

>
 
Yes a trial version of McAfee came with the computer but it was unistalled

long ago.



Running AVG 9.0.733 with following components running: Anti-virus,

Anti-spyware, Link Scanner, Email scanner,

License, Resident Shield Update Manager and Secutity toolbar.



Will go to recommended website and see what I can learn



Thank you for the help.



Francis







"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message

news:%23uydplmrKHA.5940@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Did a Norton or McAfee free trial come preinstalled on the computer when

> you bought it?

>

> Are you running AVG Free 9.0 and is Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

> Surf-Shield, Security toolbar, and/or one or more of the email scanning

> components installed?

>

> Help! My computer is slow!

> http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html

> --

> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

>

>

> Francis M wrote:

>> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0

>> ghz

>> processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to boot

>> up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower.

>> The

>> computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some security updates,

>> but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware

>> with

>> nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make

>> programs

>> laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally, when

>> booting

>> up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is

>> running low and Windows is increasing its

>> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>>

>> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?


>
 
"Francis M" wrote...

> Hello,

>

> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0 ghz

> processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to boot up, which

> when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower. The computer is not

> turned off that often. Havew done some security updates, but not all. Have run AVG

> virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware with nothing found. Did do a defrag and

> scandisk, which did seem to make programs laundh faster, but still slow on boot up.

> Oh, incidentally, when booting up I will get a message something to the effect that

> Virtual Memory is running low and Windows is increasing its

> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>

> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?




While logged in as an Administrator,

Right-Click "My Computer" and select "Properties".

Click on the "Advanced" tab.

Under Performance, click "Settings"

Click the "Advanced" tab.

- Processor Scheduling should be set to "Performance"

- Memory Usage should be set to "Programs"

??? Virtual Memory - under "Total paging file size for all drives", WHAT DOES IT SAY?

-----Click "Change"

??? WHAT ARE ALL THE SETTINGS THERE?



Get back with that info & we can move on from there.



Toni
 
McAfee (and Norton) applications are notorious for not uninstalling (or

upgrading) cleanly.



1. Download the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool, saving it to your

desktop:

http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe



2. Close all open applications (i.e., anything with an icon on the taskbar).



3. Double-click on the file you saved in #1 above to run the utility. Don't

TOUCH your keyboard until the run completes, then reboot.



4. OPTIONAL but highly recommended => Uninstall AVG & reboot, then do a

fresh install of AVG: This time select the CUSTOM install option and do NOT

install (i.e., uncheck) Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active Surf-Shield,

Security toolbar (none of which are compatible with IE7 or IE8 IMHO), or any

of the email scanning components.



• Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email

http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm



Any better now?





Francis M wrote:

> Yes a trial version of McAfee came with the computer but it was

> unistalled

> long ago.

>

> Running AVG 9.0.733 with following components running: Anti-virus,

> Anti-spyware, Link Scanner, Email scanner,

> License, Resident Shield Update Manager and Secutity toolbar.

>

> Will go to recommended website and see what I can learn

>

> Thank you for the help.

>

>> Did a Norton or McAfee free trial come preinstalled on the computer when

>> you bought it?

>>

>> Are you running AVG Free 9.0 and is Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

>> Surf-Shield, Security toolbar, and/or one or more of the email scanning

>> components installed?

>>

>> Help! My computer is slow!

>> http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html

>> --

>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

>>

>>

>> Francis M wrote:

>>> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0

>>> ghz

>>> processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to

>>> boot

>>> up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower.

>>> The

>>> computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some security

>>> updates,

>>> but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware

>>> with

>>> nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make

>>> programs

>>> laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally, when

>>> booting

>>> up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is

>>> running low and Windows is increasing its

>>> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>>>

>>> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?
 
Total paging file size for all drives", WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Minimum allowed 2mb

Recommended 765mb

Currently allocated 1526mb



WHAT ARE ALL THE SETTINGS THERE?



Custom size selected

Intial size 768mb

Maximum 1536mb







"Toni" wrote in message

news:%23XTCBvnrKHA.4236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> "Francis M" wrote...

>> Hello,

>>

>> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3.0

>> ghz processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to

>> boot up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become

>> slower. The computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some

>> security updates, but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and

>> Lavasoft spyware with nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which

>> did seem to make programs laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh,

>> incidentally, when booting up I will get a message something to the

>> effect that Virtual Memory is running low and Windows is increasing its

>> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>>

>> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?


>

> While logged in as an Administrator,

> Right-Click "My Computer" and select "Properties".

> Click on the "Advanced" tab.

> Under Performance, click "Settings"

> Click the "Advanced" tab.

> - Processor Scheduling should be set to "Performance"

> - Memory Usage should be set to "Programs"

> ??? Virtual Memory - under "Total paging file size for all drives", WHAT

> DOES IT SAY?

> -----Click "Change"

> ??? WHAT ARE ALL THE SETTINGS THERE?

>

> Get back with that info & we can move on from there.

>

> Toni

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>
 
Will do. Now working on this. Thank You.



Francis



"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message

news:OQma1KprKHA.4948@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> McAfee (and Norton) applications are notorious for not uninstalling (or

> upgrading) cleanly.

>

> 1. Download the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool, saving it to your

> desktop:

> http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

>

> 2. Close all open applications (i.e., anything with an icon on the

> taskbar).

>

> 3. Double-click on the file you saved in #1 above to run the utility.

> Don't TOUCH your keyboard until the run completes, then reboot.

>

> 4. OPTIONAL but highly recommended => Uninstall AVG & reboot, then do a

> fresh install of AVG: This time select the CUSTOM install option and do

> NOT install (i.e., uncheck) Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

> Surf-Shield, Security toolbar (none of which are compatible with IE7 or

> IE8 IMHO), or any of the email scanning components.

>

> • Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email

> http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm

>

> Any better now?

>

>

> Francis M wrote:

>> Yes a trial version of McAfee came with the computer but it was

>> unistalled

>> long ago.

>>

>> Running AVG 9.0.733 with following components running: Anti-virus,

>> Anti-spyware, Link Scanner, Email scanner,

>> License, Resident Shield Update Manager and Secutity toolbar.

>>

>> Will go to recommended website and see what I can learn

>>

>> Thank you for the help.

>>

>>> Did a Norton or McAfee free trial come preinstalled on the computer when

>>> you bought it?

>>>

>>> Are you running AVG Free 9.0 and is Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

>>> Surf-Shield, Security toolbar, and/or one or more of the email scanning

>>> components installed?

>>>

>>> Help! My computer is slow!

>>> http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html

>>> --

>>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

>>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

>>>

>>>

>>> Francis M wrote:

>>>> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram,

>>>> 3.0

>>>> ghz

>>>> processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to

>>>> boot

>>>> up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower.

>>>> The

>>>> computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some security

>>>> updates,

>>>> but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware

>>>> with

>>>> nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make

>>>> programs

>>>> laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally, when

>>>> booting

>>>> up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is

>>>> running low and Windows is increasing its

>>>> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>>>>

>>>> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?


>
 
Have only done the McAfee Consumer Products Removal, and it took 7 minutes

to boot up. Little quicker than before. Will try removing and reinstalling

AVG like you said.



Also want to reiew and heed instructions on the website you recommended:

http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html



Francis









"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message

news:OQma1KprKHA.4948@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> McAfee (and Norton) applications are notorious for not uninstalling (or

> upgrading) cleanly.

>

> 1. Download the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool, saving it to your

> desktop:

> http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

>

> 2. Close all open applications (i.e., anything with an icon on the

> taskbar).

>

> 3. Double-click on the file you saved in #1 above to run the utility.

> Don't TOUCH your keyboard until the run completes, then reboot.

>

> 4. OPTIONAL but highly recommended => Uninstall AVG & reboot, then do a

> fresh install of AVG: This time select the CUSTOM install option and do

> NOT install (i.e., uncheck) Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

> Surf-Shield, Security toolbar (none of which are compatible with IE7 or

> IE8 IMHO), or any of the email scanning components.

>

> • Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email

> http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm

>

> Any better now?

>

>

> Francis M wrote:

>> Yes a trial version of McAfee came with the computer but it was

>> unistalled

>> long ago.

>>

>> Running AVG 9.0.733 with following components running: Anti-virus,

>> Anti-spyware, Link Scanner, Email scanner,

>> License, Resident Shield Update Manager and Secutity toolbar.

>>

>> Will go to recommended website and see what I can learn

>>

>> Thank you for the help.

>>

>>> Did a Norton or McAfee free trial come preinstalled on the computer when

>>> you bought it?

>>>

>>> Are you running AVG Free 9.0 and is Linkscanner, Search-Shield, Active

>>> Surf-Shield, Security toolbar, and/or one or more of the email scanning

>>> components installed?

>>>

>>> Help! My computer is slow!

>>> http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html

>>> --

>>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

>>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002

>>>

>>>

>>> Francis M wrote:

>>>> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram,

>>>> 3.0

>>>> ghz

>>>> processor, unit is 4 years old. It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to

>>>> boot

>>>> up, which when new was not like that. It has gradually become slower.

>>>> The

>>>> computer is not turned off that often. Havew done some security

>>>> updates,

>>>> but not all. Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft spyware

>>>> with

>>>> nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which did seem to make

>>>> programs

>>>> laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh, incidentally, when

>>>> booting

>>>> up I will get a message something to the effect that Virtual Memory is

>>>> running low and Windows is increasing its

>>>> size...........................don't remember the rest.

>>>>

>>>> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?


>
 
On Feb 15, 7:56 pm, "Francis M" wrote:

> Total paging file size for all drives", WHAT DOES IT SAY?

>     Minimum allowed  2mb

>     Recommended  765mb

>     Currently allocated 1526mb

>

> WHAT ARE ALL THE SETTINGS THERE?

>

>     Custom size selected

>     Intial size 768mb

>     Maximum 1536mb

>

> "Toni" wrote in message

>

> news:%23XTCBvnrKHA.4236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>

>

>

> > "Francis M" wrote...

> >> Hello,


>

> >> Have a Dell Dimension 510, Windows XP Media Center, SP2, 512 MB ram, 3..0

> >> ghz processor, unit is 4 years old.  It is now taking 8 to 10 minutes to

> >> boot up, which when new was not like that.  It has gradually become

> >> slower.  The computer is not turned off that often.  Havew done some

> >> security updates, but not all.  Have run AVG virus scan, Spybot S&D,and

> >> Lavasoft spyware with nothing found. Did do a defrag and scandisk, which

> >> did seem to make programs laundh faster, but still slow on boot up. Oh,

> >> incidentally, when  booting up I will get a message something to the

> >> effect that Virtual Memory is running low and Windows is increasing its

> >> size...........................don't remember the rest.


>

> >> Any idea what I can do to hasten boot up?


>

> > While logged in as an Administrator,

> > Right-Click "My Computer" and select "Properties".

> > Click on the "Advanced" tab.

> > Under Performance, click "Settings"

> > Click the "Advanced" tab.

> > - Processor Scheduling should be set to "Performance"

> > - Memory Usage should be set to "Programs"

> > ??? Virtual Memory - under "Total paging file size for all drives", WHAT

> > DOES IT SAY?

> > -----Click "Change"

> > ??? WHAT ARE ALL THE SETTINGS THERE?


>

> > Get back with that info & we can move on from there.


>

> > Toni




You can put an end to questions about your system, what you have, what

you don't have try this, try that by providing some more information.

Sounds like you have things configured in a less than optimal way.



PA Bear is on the right track - too much stuff that you don't need,

but it will also help to actually see what your system looks like now

or when you get done messing around.



Since Spybot is in the picture, if their Teatimer component is

installed (optional of course), that is a huge consumer of Virtual

Memory, but we can tell if you do post screen shots of a few things on

your system.



Unless you know more about managing memory that XP you should leave

your Virtual Memory settings at System managed size and not change

them. The message you see is not an error, it is an informational

message that XP is doing it's job. You should just make better use of

your resources instead.



Here are three things we need, how to do it and then some examples.



1. Supply msinfo32 information

2. Supply Task Manager information

3. Supply Startup information (use CCleaner for this and other things

later)



1. Click Start, Run and in the box enter:



msinfo32



Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select

All, Copy and then paste the information back here.



There will be some personal information (like System Name and User

Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just

delete it from the pasted information.



2. Post a screen shot of your Task Manager and there will be no

guessing about what it running or your virtual memory.



Right click the Taskbar, choose Task Manager and select the Processes

tab.



Click View, Select Columns, check the box that says: Virtual Memory

Size. Expand the width of the Task Manager box so you can see all the

columns and processes. Is the largest consumer of Virtual Memory

Teatimer? It doesn't have to be that way.



Double click a column heading in TM to sort by the column. For

example, sort Task Manager by the CPU column.



Take a screenshot of what you see and upload the screenshot to one of

several free picture hosting WWW sites listed below.



3. Download CCleaner, install it, run it, click Tools, Startup and

drag the columns around so all the Startup items are easy to see.



CCleaner is good for this since it shows the Startup information in a

bigger display and has other useful functions. You can uninstall it

later if you don't use it.



Get CCleaner here:



http://www.ccleaner.com/



When you are done, we will be able to see what you are seeing.



Here is how to create and post a screenshot:



Press the Print Scrn button to copy your entire screen to the Windows

clipboard.



Press Alt Print Scrn to copy just the active window to the Windows

clipboard.



Open MS Paint:



Start, Program Accessories, Paint



When Paint opens, press CTRL-V to paste the clipboard, save the new

Paint file to your desktop or someplace you can remember. JPG files

take up less hard disk space than BMP files and just as readable.



Make as many screenshots as you need. Practice makes perfect. Be

careful your screenshot does not contain any personal information.

Practice viewing your images before you upload them to be sure they

are okay.



You cannot upload screenshot files here but you can use a free third

party image hosting WWW site.



Create a free account on some free picture hosting web site. You can

always remove your account later if you want.



Here are some free image hosting sites:



http://www.imageshack.us/

http://photobucket.com/



Using your free account, upload your screenshot(s) (the JPG or BMP

files) to the site and it will return to you a URL web address (a

Direct Link) for your new image(s) which you can paste the Direct Link

in a message post, email, etc.



When you are done, what you post for others to use should look

something like this:



http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6428/taskmanagerr.jpg
 
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